Emailing lists are spam traps

Posting a message to emailing list with a public archive is just like handing over your email address to spammers! As most of these archives includes the poster's name and poorly protected email address. More than enough raw material to increase the amount of spam you receive

To avoid unwillingly giving your email address away when posting to emailing lists, consider the following:

Do not post directly to the list. Instead try alternates such as IRC channels, forums, or contact forms.
Use email aliases which periodically can be changed.
Set a fake, or aliased email address in the from field, and use your real address in the reply-to field. Most email list archives will not include the reply-to address.

I know many readers do post to emailing lists, as they are the primary communication fora in most open source projects. But do consider ditching them in favor of other communication methods!

And remember: There are nothing preventing a spammer from collecting addresses of mailing list's public archives, or subscribing to the list and then strip every message that goes trough the list for email addresses.

I really like emailing lists myself, and I have used them a lot. But they are just too poorly designed for a society where collecting people's email addressed for marketing purposes has become such a huge business.

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